Do you wash fresh ingredients before using them?

Morning Glory

Morning Glory

Obsessive cook
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Personally I don't bother to wash anything unless its visibly dirty. So, for example, if potatoes are covered in dirt then I'd rinse them. Or if there are likely to be insects in a lettuce I'd rinse it. But really, not otherwise. I don't believe I've washed any ingredients very much for as long as I can remember. I'm sure there may be good reasons to wash some things - but as I've survived 50 years or more unscathed I'm not likely to start now.

How about you?
 
Generally, yes, even though I do think washing berries ruins them for eating fresh.

Something like apples and citrus, if I'm going to eat the peel/zest, they'll actually get a little soak in vinegar and water, then rinsed, because (unless they're organic), they've got a thin coating of food-safe wax on them usually, and it leaves a strange sensation in my mouth.
 
We wash/rinse off nearly everything. I won't re-wash triple washed lettuce blends and greens, BUT I do pick through them because I've found critters in them a couple of times. I even rinse out the hollow green parts of scallions/green onions because in 1 of those outbreaks of something it was mentioned in the media reports that if they had just been rinsed off that would have taken care of the problem.
 
I'll usually give even the triple-washed stuff a little soak in water, but it's more to revitalize the greens a bit.

I'm constantly finding stuff in the bags of washed lettuce, though; usually pieces of cardboard, but I found a latex glove in one bag. :)
 
I guess I like living dangerously. :hyper:

I wash some things, but not many. Potatoes get washed, because they grew under dirt. They are always dirty. Celery usually has some dirt down near the base of the stalks.

I am okay with fruits and veggies that grow up off the ground. Since I peel the outer layer from onions, anyway, I don't see a reason the wash them. I definitely don't worry about germs on things I am going to cook.

I can't back this up with any scientific data, but I think our immune systems need some exposure to bacteria to stay functional, and the more we remove all bacteria from our environments, the less our bodies are able to cope with bacteria when we do encounter it.

Back in my SeaDoo riding days, I (unintentionally) swallowed lake water from time-to-time, and it didn't make me sick. So, I don't think an unwashed strawberry is going to do me in.

CD
 
I rinse lettuces as they are home grown and have bugs or dirt. Spuds I just peel without cleaning. Potatoes in the jacket which I had the other day with my t bone was scrubbed with a dish brush. Berries I just pick and have a quick inspection then either eat / freeze. Pumpkins are washed.

Russ
 
I rarely wash anything that doesn't have visible soil on it. I don't generally purchase anything such as bagged lettuce leaves. If I did, washing it would depend on the circumstances. If I was 'on the road' then definitely not. Most things are from the ground/tree or from the shops straight to being cooked or eaten as is.

I'm with caseydog on the bugs are needed to keep us healthy side of life. When I first met my husband and we were out in the mountains, we'd have to carry all of his drinking water and sterilizing tablets if out for longer than a day. Even my water bottles would have tap water in them, but for him not me. I've lived off non-mains water all my life and can still drink most water (visibly clear water) without issue. Hubby had grown up on mains water only. The difference back then was obvious. Now, he's able to drink the same untreated water as I have always done but it took a lot of years and needed him to live off grid for water before that could happen.

We actually have to purchase water in when we have guests now! And since I've started making water kefir I've established that our water is too pure to keep water kefir grains alive because it lacks vital nutrients they require! So I have to buy in mineral water to make water kefir.

I think living off grid for so long has probably made us a lot more resistant to stomach or other gut bugs than most people so I get away with far more than perhaps I should do.
 
I always, always, always rinse fresh produce before using them, unless they're in a sealed container (lettuce and peppers are sometimes sold that way). There are two reasons for this:
  1. I grew up in the 60s and 70s, when there was a pesticide scare regarding fresh fruit. I never got out of the habit.
  2. Even after I realized that there wasn't an issue with pesticides, I don't want to contract whatever disease the last shopper had on their grubby little paws!
No one can convince me that the second point isn't legitimate. When I am picking out which vegetables and fruit I want, I pick them up, turn them around, and give them a good look. If they aren't to my liking, I put them back. I have to assume other people do the same.

Some people undoubtedly go shopping when they aren't feeling healthy. And, while we do have antiseptic wipes to go over the shopping cart handles at most supermarkets, I can't trust that every shopper does this, or that they washed their own hands before they go shopping. I don't wash my hands before I shop, and I wouldn't trust them to be totally clean either after having touched the door of my house, my car door, my steering wheel, my keys. Why take a chance?
 
I can hon
The Late Night Gourmet said:
No one can convince me that the second point isn't legitimate. When I am picking out which vegetables and fruit I want, I pick them up, turn them around, and give them a good look. If they aren't to my liking, I put them back. I have to assume other people do the same.
Click to expand...
There was a local news report about something similar a few years ago, and the habit they pointed out is how shoppers will grab a plastic bag for their produce, lick their fingers in order to get the bag open, then start feeling around the produce with their licky fingers.

That made me laugh, because that's exactly what I do when I'm shopping! :laugh:
 
I have often read that things like a melon that you slice open should be washed, because when the knife cuts through the melon, it could pick up germs/bacteria on the outside and transfer it to the inside.
 
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